The top 11 PE investors in the US Midwest

When it comes to the US Midwest, you're more likely to think of cornfields, prairies and manufacturing than the private equity industry. After all, the region—which PitchBook defines as Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota—has an economic footprint that’s made up of parts of the Corn Belt and the Wheat Belt.

The story is a bit different when it comes to capital invested, which has been relatively steady over the last 10 years other than a big spike last year. In July 2017, Luxembourg-based
JAB Holding teamed with
BDT Capital Partners to take St. Louis-based
Panera Bread private for $315 per share in a deal valued at some $7.5 billion, including debt. And in September of last year, outdoor retailer
Bass Pro Shops closed a deal to acquire fellow outfitter
Cabela's, based in Sidney, NE, for $61.50 per share in a deal worth some $5 billion.
Goldman Sachs and
Pamplona Capital Management helped Bass Pro Shops seal the acquisition with $2.4 billion in equity financing.

The deals for Panera and Cabela's marked the first and second biggest PE-backed acquisitions in the Midwest in at least a decade, per PitchBook data. On Friday, another sizable buyout was added to the list when New York-based buyout shop
American Securities acquired Waterloo, IA-based
CPM Holdings, a supplier of processing equipment for the animal feed, oilseed processing, extrusion and thermal processing markets, from
Gilbert Global Equity Partners for a reported $740 million. The deal marks one of American Securities' first forays in the region, but many other firms have a more sizable list of Midwest investments.